


A Good Match

by greygerbil



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 17:07:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7626880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greygerbil/pseuds/greygerbil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six months into their relationship, Eddie meets Rafael's colleagues. It doesn't go too well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Good Match

The restaurant was a large place full of men in suits and women in long evening dresses, with landscape paintings on the walls, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, furniture made out of dark, polished wood and a shining marble floor. A waiter led Rafael and him to their table. “We are supposed to mingle with people we don’t see at lunch every day, which means assigned tables and seating cards,” Rafael had told Eddie at home. “Which is sort of like the lottery: you usually lose.”

The whole thing was some sort of annual staff dinner of the Manhattan D.A.’s office. From the moment Rafael had told him he’d asked his boss to add a plus one to his invitation, Eddie had felt more nervous than he did before prom. He’d go, of course. He had to learn not to be a pussy about this just because Rafael was man and Eddie was, too. After all, he’d been dating Rafael going on six months now. If it continued to go well, he’d ask Rafael to marry him eventually – because he still believed that was what you were supposed to do with someone you loved. He wasn’t going to lock the church doors for the wedding and do it in secret, so he might as well get used Rafael’s colleagues or anyone else they knew seeing them together.

And who’d want to hide Rafael away, anyway? Eddie couldn’t take his eyes of him as Rafael greeted the people already sitting at their table with that cocky little smile, shaking hands and cracking jokes. Eddie just managed to tear himself from the sight to pull back the chair for him, at least. His mamá had taught him a few manners.

There were three couples: one stern, grey-haired and smartly dressed, his tie matching her costume; another about Eddie’s and Rafael’s age, both looking glamorous enough to move on from here to go to a gala; then a guy in his sixties with a kind smile and a pretty young blonde holding his hand on the table. The odd single out was a redhead with a little grey in his curls and freckles all over his face, who had jumped up to squeeze Rafael’s hand.

“Look at the company,” he said, just looking at Rafael. “I think we got very lucky this evening.”

-

Eddie sipped from his glass of wine and tried not to look as uncomfortable as he felt. The suit didn’t help, probably. It was a new one which Rafael had had made for him as a birthday present and it was really nice, of course, because Rafael knew about this stuff. Still, he wasn’t used to the smooth slide of the cool fabric against his skin and ties had always felt like leashes to him.

The way Rafael looked at him all dressed up totally made up for a little discomfort, though. He’d even enjoyed wearing it to the theatre once and felt pretty classy with Rafael holding on to his arm like they were a couple in a black-and-white movie. For an evening, people had looked at them and probably thought that they were a good match. That was only because Eddie didn’t have to talk to anyone but Rafael, though.

At least he wasn’t the first one to get put on the spot. The blonde girl was new to the old couple, apparently, and introduced herself first, which gave Eddie a moment to get the people in order. Freckles, who was actually called Something Robertson, the woman his age in the glittering silver gown (‘Call me Kate’) and the two old guys were the A.D.A.s. Kate’s husband John was a banker. The couple that looked like strict grandparents were called Valencia and Victor, which was easy to remember. The dude with the young blonde was Keith, but he’d forgotten her name. He did hear that she had gone to Williams College, which, judging by Valencia’s reaction, seemed to be a big deal, so he dubbed her that in his head.

At first, Eddie thought he might escape having to say more than his name. From mentioning Williams College, which was apparently Liberal Arts, they went on to talk about museums and then vacations to Europe and foreign politics and Eddie didn’t feel like he had a lot to add. He liked listening to Rafael, who was as bright and talkative as usual, but never spoke without actually having something to say, which Eddie had already noticed didn’t go for all the people at this table.

However, there was a break in the discussion of a new policy Eddie had never heard of for the waitress to serve their food. Since the menu was in French, he’d told Rafael to order for him, and only knew he was expecting to get veal. The piece of meat actually looked good enough, but other than a decorative salad and a potato, it was also the only thing on the plate. Not a lot for dinner, Eddie thought, but no one else had a bigger portion.

“Mr. Garcia, we haven’t heard from you all evening,” Valencia pointed out, as they all were arranging their napkins and cutlery.

“To be fair, I don’t think we’ve given him a lot of space to introduce himself,” Keith said with a congenial smile.

“What a surprise – someone doesn’t get a word in on a table full of lawyer,” Rafael said, making the company laugh.

“Well, still,” Valencia insisted. “Tell us about yourself! It’s been ages since Rafael brought anyone along.”

Eddie hoped for someone else to interrupt him, but all eyes were now on him.

“Uh,” he said, “there’s not much to tell about me. I’ve been with Raf…ael for half a year now.” And he’d almost called him Rafi in front of his co-workers even though he’d told himself not to all day long. “I’m a prison guard at Rikers.”

He was really well aware that Keith’s could-barely-be-thirty girlfriend had just been asked the same question and come out with a CV full of stays abroad and internships and marketing jobs in big brand companies. What was he supposed to do, though, list the number of clubs where he’d been a bouncer, or the gyms he’d helped out at? It wasn’t like he hadn’t lived, or done shit – just not the sort of stuff he’d talk to these people about, or thought they’d care to hear.

Valencia glanced at her husband, face unreadable. When she turned to Eddie again, the smile was back in place.

“Did you meet on the job, then?”

“You’d think, but no. We are childhood friends,” Rafael supplied, smoothly.

Perhaps he didn’t want Eddie to say that they had met _again_ on the job, but Eddie hadn’t been about to give that away, anyway. He shouldn’t have filled the time he’d spent listening drinking two glasses of wine on an empty stomach, Eddie thought, as he groped for something to add to Rafael’s remark.

“Childhood friends! That’s sweet,” Kate said, with a dazzling smile on her ruby-red lips. “´That means you must come from the same neighbourhood, right, Rafael?”

The smile never faded, but Eddie thought there was something ugly in the way she looked at Rafael. She reminded him of a cat about to pounce.

“Same street,” Rafael said, holding her gaze.

“Have you always worked at Rikers?” Williams College asked.

“No, I did, well, things here and there. I was out in Philadelphia for a while. Never went too long or too far, though, ‘cause of my family. I had to help out my mum, you know.”

First they had had to care for grandpa when he got Alzheimer’s and then he’d also spent many nights in his twenties searching the neighbourhood for his cousin Emilio, thrown his needles in the trash and dragged him home to a crying aunt Bianca. Just after Eddie’s grandpa had died, his mother got sick for the first time and his dad was years gone by that point, of course, so Eddie worked to support her, too. Then his cousin Carolina got pregnant from that asshole Felipe who never showed his face again and she still had to finish college, since she had only a year left to do, so they helped out with the baby… well, just the way life worked out, basically.

“I find it quite selfish when parents keep their kids around like that,” Williams College supplied as she carefully put a tiny piece of fish on her fork. “You’re really obstructing their future.”

“Not all families have the choice not to do it,” Rafael jumped in.

“There’s must be some better way,” she declared, dabbing her mouth with the napkin, careful not to smudge her lipstick. “People just get too comfortable and scared to try new things.”

“And, after all, you went to Harvard, too, Mr. Barba,” Robertson chimed in, with a warm smile directed at Rafael.

“There’s my son, now, too,” Eddie added. He didn’t like that they made it sound like his mamá had ruined his life. “He lives with me.”

“You’re a single father?” the slick-haired John asked. He had already finished his food and was nipping his wine now.

“Yeah.”

“I thought about that when I separated from my ex-wife, but ultimately, I think it’s just not right to take children from their mothers too young. That bond is so important for their psychological development and as a man, you just can’t provide the same experience – no offence,” he added, gently waving his hand in Eddie’s direction.

“Well, that’s how it worked out,” Eddie said, lamely, a well-known guilt settling into his stomach. If he’d been able to keep his ex-wife happy… but then again, he wouldn’t have Rafael now, right? And Manny liked Rafael, too. It wasn’t perfect to have Manny asking after his mother who never called, but their life wasn’t nearly as bad as it could be, either. He didn’t think – or at least he hoped – that this wasn’t going to hurt Manny too bad in the future, that Eddie still being there for him would make a difference.

“Where did you get _that_ lesson in children’s psychology from, John? 1960? There’s no reason a single father can’t raise a healthy child,” Rafael said, turning on John like a turret. Eddie would have liked his put-down more if it hadn’t felt like Rafael kept coming to his defence. It meant it was pretty clear Eddie needed it.

“I admit it’s a bit old-fashioned, but I stand by it,” John said. “I believe in biology.”

Eddie concentrated on his food. The meat gave away easily under his knife. It was really soft and cooked just right, almost raw, which Rafael must have remembered Eddie liked when he’d ordered for him. The salad, however, was weird – he was pretty sure that was strawberry sauce and he wasn’t sure what that was doing on his Batavia lettuce. On the potato, there was some strange, bitter spice that tickled in the back of his throat and made him cough. He emptied most of Rafael’s glass of water.

“Will you live?” Rafael asked him, quietly, his hand hovering behind Eddie’s back, poised to slap it if needed.

Eddie nodded his head, trying to breathe through his nose.

“Oh dear. Chef Michel’s food is a bit of an acquired taste, I’m afraid. One needs to be used to the kind,” Valencia said, with the mild voice of a teacher handing back a failed test.

“It’s not for everyone,” her husband Victor agreed. “But I have to say, I find his work amazing. The contrast of tastes is such a special touch. Just at the brink and never pushed too far.”

“He knows how to put a spin on everyday food. It’s a sort of art,” Williams College added, smiling.

This led Kate to ask about the definition of art and the table found itself in a theoretical discussion that Eddie might have tried to follow if he hadn’t gotten distracted by Robertson, who had put his hand on Rafael’s arm.

“Mr. Barba, I’m sorry to start work talk over dinner, but now that I’ve got you here, would you mind me asking about one of your cases?”

“As with all people who mainly spend their time in the office, work talk is probably my most interesting addition to any conversation. Go ahead,” Rafael said dryly.

Robertson laughed heartily.

“I know for a fact that’s not true.” He moved his chair to turn more towards Rafael. “I was wondering: How did you manage to get the mother to testify against her son in the Edford case? That was shortly before you transferred to Manhattan, I think.”

“Yes, I know which one you mean.”

From the way Rafael sat his knife down and tugged thoughtfully at his sleeve to straighten it, Eddie knew his attention was now captured.

“That’s rather obscure – how did you stumble across Edford?”

“I must admit I dug a little deeper into your work. You could say I enjoy your style, Mr. Barba.”

Eddie pushed his fork down hard in his peace of veal until the blood came seeping out.

-

“Damnit.”

Rafael stopped just before reaching Eddie’s beat-up Toyota Camry XV10, pulling his empty hand out of his pocket.

“What is it?”

“Valencia gave me a business card. I must have left it at the table.” He turned. “I’ll be right back.”

Before Rafael could hurry up the steps to the restaurant, Eddie caught him by the shoulder.

“I’ll go get it. My legs feel stiff from sitting.”

Quickly, he pressed the keys in Rafael’s hand. His boyfriend hesitated briefly, then shrugged and nodded his head. While he unlocked the car, Eddie jumped up the stairs two steps at a time. He could smell the big red roses, which wound around a wrought-iron fence on both sides of the staircase, like heavy perfume. It was a humid evening and stepping outside hadn’t done much to help get that fresh breath of air he really needed right now. After blundering his attempt to look good in front of the other A.D.A.s, watching Robertson slobber over Rafael for an hour straight had been exactly what he’d needed to complete this evening. At least it was over, though, and he was pretty sure he’d just been unremarkable.

Without waiting to be spoken to, Eddie pushed past a somewhat consternated waiter standing in the front, telling him “just here to pick up something” in passing. Most people had already left and the seating arrangements had broken up. He saw the rest sitting and chatting over half-empty glasses and candles burned down and dripping onto the silver holders. 

The card was still on the table half tucked away under Rafael’s napkin, the address of some lawyer’s office. He pocketed it before turning back.

There was a small cloakroom to the left where Eddie saw Kate and John standing with Keith’s girlfriend, who was just turning away from the door. Since she’d probably seen him, Eddie thought it’d be polite to go over and say goodbye again.

“It’s nice to see people socially sometimes,” he heard John saying, as he approached. “Catch up with what’s happening in their lives. Pretty surprising, too.”

Kate lifted a hand to her face and the blonde, Williams College, was openly giggling.

“You wouldn’t happen to refer to Rafael and his _prison guard_?”

Obviously, it took a great deal of effort for the blonde chick not to completely crack up.

Maybe she hadn’t seen him after all.

“Now, now, darling. A mid-life crisis can happen to the best of us, you’ll find out one day,” Kate told Williams College with a sage smile.

“What, you don’t think he’s with him for his intellect?” John feigned surprise.

“Oh, of course. And because he’s such a great conversationalist, obviously,” Kate added.

“Exactly. I’m sure _that’s_ the skill he keeps him around for,” John said. “And, to be fair, it is Rafael’s free time, he can spend it however he likes. But I don’t think bringing someone like that to an official function is really appropriate.”

Before he heard any more, Eddie rushed towards the front door. Apparently he had a knack for bad impressions, but he wasn’t gonna add another one by punching a banker in the face.

-

After slamming the door hard enough to make the whole car shake, Eddie couldn’t pretend he wasn’t pissed off. He ignored Rafael’s quizzical gaze until he had pulled out into traffic, finally leaving the damn restaurant behind in the rear view mirror.

“I take it you didn’t enjoy yourself?” Rafael said.

“Your friends are assholes.”

“Colleagues. There’s an important difference.” He shrugged his shoulders. “And I partially agree, but I actually think they behaved – for their standards. Valencia and Vincent are decent company, too, once you get to know them and learn to tune out the lectures on high cuisine.”

With a glower, Eddie stared out ahead onto the street. Fact was, Rafael had to go and work with these people come Monday, so he wasn’t sure if he should tell him what they said behind his back. Rafael had always been thick-skinned, though. It’d be worse for him not to know.

“When I went back inside, some of them were still there waiting for their coats. Kate and John and the girl who went to that arts college. They were talking about us.”

“I’m guessing no compliments?”

“They said I’m too stupid for you to be with me for anything but sex. And that you shouldn’t’ve brought me ‘cause I’m not _appropriate_.”

Like he was a stray dog that might shit on the carpet. Part of him really regretted not having gone back to show John what he thought of his opinion.

Rafael made a humming sound. “Well, that does sound like them. They were never even so much as barely likeable people.”

The even voice Rafael spoke in took the wind out of Eddie’s sails a bit. He glanced at him, wondering what this was about. Those were his colleagues, after all, and wouldn’t it reflect badly on him if they thought like that? Rafael didn’t look bothered at all.

“Is this okay with you?”

His boyfriend raised a brow, glancing briefly at his phone. “I’m not happy they insulted you, but I also don’t care about them enough to attempt to change their minds. Trust me, these people are not worth the considerable hassle it would take.”

“Yeah, but everyone from your work you’re gonna introduce me too is pretty much gonna think like that, right?” Eddie said, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

Finally, Rafael turned around to look at him. “I know we ended up at a bad table tonight, but I have a fair number of colleagues who are not ‘assholes’, as you so eloquently put it. Not much more than our job demands it of us, anyway.”

“They’re gonna think I’m an idiot like this bunch did.”

And they might be right. Eddie didn’t look at Rafael.

“They have degrees, Eddie. As they’ve so kindly demonstrated, that doesn’t make them better people. Since when do you get intimidated by that sort of thing?”

Eddie fell silent as well, concentrating on traffic. He hadn’t needed these people to tell him his life wasn’t one long victory road. Not managing to keep his marriage going still felt like his fault, even though his ex-wife had left. He probably wasn’t as good a father to Manny as he should be or as good a son as he could be. He’d really messed up letting Alex rope him into being his bagman, too. He’d never amounted to much job-wise.

On the other hand, he supported his family and he didn’t hurt anyone. Other than what he’d done for Alex, he hadn’t been involved in anything illegal since he’d been a teenager, aside from smoking weed or other irrelevant shit like that. His life was okay, he didn’t usually feel awkward around Rafael, either. After all, Rafael knew who he was and what he’d done and hell, he’d always been smarter than him. Still, somehow, Rafael, fitting in so easily with this crowd even while he fended off their barbs, had seemed so far away tonight, someplace just not meant for Eddie.

“I ain’t ever gonna be able to talk to you about half the things they did. I don’t even understand everything you do at work.”

“Good. If everyone could be an A.D.A., all the trouble I went through getting the bar would have been unnecessary.”

“I think operas are boring.”

“I got that when you fell asleep during _Tosca_ ,” Rafael said with a snort. “But you like the theatre, right?”

That was true and something that he’d only discovered when he’d started dating Rafael. He knew Rafael chose plays that Eddie might be into, though, not the super out-there stuff. He didn’t think he’d like it at all at fist, but it was pretty much like watching a movie, only more exciting because it was all right there.

“I don’t get paintings and all that, either, I just think things look nice.” Eddie continued, anyway, feeling a little like he was holding his hand over a candle flame just to see how much of the pain he could take, like he’d done a couple times when he was a kid. Somehow, Eddie wanted to force Rafael to admit they didn’t match and... he didn’t know. Reassure him? Kick him out before he was in so deep it would break his heart, even though it was way too late for that?

“That seems like a solid basis to me.”

“If you weren’t with me, you wouldn’t have to watch football.”

“Are you done?” Rafael interrupted, before Eddie had finished his last word. “What’s your point? Do you think I think you’re not good enough for me? That’s absurd. Or that I’d prefer someone who’d make me look better in front of Kate and John? Yeah, _those_ are the people whose approval I was really waiting for all my life.” His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

It was rare that Rafael lost his composure, but Eddie realised he had hit a nerve hard. As he looked over, he saw Rafael’s mouth twisted with hurt and anger, his hand curled to a fist on his thigh as he stared at Eddie.

“That’s what you think I’ve turned into? Shouldn’t you know me a little better than that?” Rafael demanded.

“No!” Eddie snapped, frustrated. “ I just don’t want to, fuck, affect your reputation or whatever. You worked hard to get here.”

And he didn’t want Rafael to leave even if it might make sense, but he didn’t know how to say that part right.

“Honestly, hearing what you told me just makes me want to parade you around more,” Rafael huffed.

That pig-headed tone forced a little smile out of Eddie because he’d been listening to that for fourty years plus. He glanced at Rafael again and sighed. Rafael was right. What the hell did he care about these guys, anyway? Rafael wasn’t like them, not where it counted, and Eddie would see them like twice a year tops and everytime would be a reminder to them that he was still the man Rafael loved.

“Okay, but not for another month. I need a break from the damn cross-examinations.”

“See, you know legalese after all.”

“Shut up.”

Eddie reached over and grabbed Rafael’s arm, running his fingers downwards, clutching his wrist and pulling it closer to him, holding his hand over the handbrake for just a moment. They drove on in comfortable silence.

“I’m hungry,” Rafael said, out of the blue.

Eddie found himself barking out a laugh.

“I thought it was just me. Why were the portions that small?”

“I don’t know, maybe that’s part of Chef Michel’s _artistic vision_.” Rafael rolled his eyes. “Like the weird orange syrup on my fish. I don’t mind a few culinary experiments, but I think this was a little too avant-garde for me.”

“I’m gonna make dinner when we get back,” Eddie decided.

-

As soon as he was through the door, Eddie got rid of the suit and exchanged it for boxer shorts and a comfortable old grey shirt with a tattoo-style alligator print. While Rafael was in the bathroom, he went into the kitchen and dug through the cabinets. There was always too little food, since Rafael wasn’t home a lot. He did find some tortillas, so he started heating butter in a pan. A glass of corn, grated cheese and leftover chicken from yesterday’s dinner, which he cut in stripes, were all he could find to put on his makeshift quesadilla.

He wasn’t a chef, but everything he made tended to be edible. His mother had never much liked cooking, so she was quite happy for him to take over when he had the time. Most of the actual recipes he knew were from his Puerto Rican family, although little things like this tended to be recipes he’d looked up on the internet or guessed at when preparing them for the first time, and then experimented with until he got it right.

“Rafi, you need to go grocery shopping sometimes,” Eddie said, as he heard Rafael’s soft footsteps closing in. He glanced backwards to see him minus his watch and jacket, but still wearing that little vest over his shirt that hugged his waist in a way Eddie could’ve stared at all day.

“I don’t need to, I still have two packages of coffee.”

Rafael gave him his smart little smile. He was peeking curiously over Eddie’s shoulder now.

“Yeah, great. Maybe you wanna chew the beans,” Eddie said, folding the empty half of the quesadilla over and pressing it down with the spatula.

“Let me taste the food first, then I decide whether I have to resort to that,” Rafael gave back.

They ate sitting on the couch, Eddie dragging Rafael close with his arm around his shoulders. While they sat together, Eddie asked him who they would’ve shared a table with if Rafael could’ve chosen, and Rafael told him about his favourite colleagues, few as there were, as well as the people who’d have been most entertaining through ridiculousness.

“By the way, John, our resident expert on child development only sees his own kids for two weeks during the summer holidays, in case you were thinking about taking parenting advice from him,” Rafael added, after a brief pause, turning his last bite in his hands. “And the father of Keith’s girlfriend owns a chain of bowling alleys which are all over the country. Affording a series of unpaid internships in Europe might not be as difficult for her as it sounds at first.”

Eddie didn’t really know why Rafael had thought of that now, but he liked hearing it. With Eddie, what you saw was kinda what you got, but these people had been good at making themselves sound perfect. With the insecurity eating away at him, he’d kinda switched off his brain and taken it at face value, which seemed stupid to him now that Rafael sat comfortably leaning against him, enjoying the food Eddie had prepared. Those weren’t really people Eddie aspired to be like and he didn’t think Rafael would’ve liked him to do that, either.

There was one thing he couldn’t get out of his mind, though.

“What about that redhead? You work closely with him?” Eddie asked, running his hand down Rafael’s chest.

“Any particular reason you’re asking?”

The gaze Rafael gave him was bemused. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t been subtle. Whatever. Eddie wasn’t a good liar.

“He was this close to asking you to sit on his lap,” Eddie said.

When Rafael took the last bite very slowly and chewed thoroughly before answering, Eddie knew he was just being a dick about it. _Pendejo_ , he thought, feeling himself settle down. It was nothing important, then, because Rafael wouldn’t have been joking around about something serious.

“He works for Narcotics. We cooperate sometimes, but we’re not about to share offices.”

“Unless he digs up some more of your cases to keep you talking, huh?”

The corner of Rafael’s mouth twitched. His gaze was innocent. “It would be unprofessional not to help a colleague.”

All those people in suits and gowns would probably be really surprised to learn what a little brat Rafael Barba could be, but Eddie was well acquainted with that streak. And if Rafael wanted to play ball…

Eddie grabbed him around the hips and surged forward, pressing between his legs while he pushed him back onto the couch. Rafael chuckled, a quick breath against his neck, and put his arms around Eddie’s neck to pull him closer. He could feel Rafael’s heartbeat speed up against his own chest.

“Okay, Rafi, that’s really selfless, but you better remember who you come home to.”

The way Rafael held on gave him an opportunity. He sat back up, dragging Rafael with him, and pushed his hands under his thighs. Picking up a grown man wasn’t an easy feat, but Eddie forced struggling guys heavier than Rafael down the prison corridors most days. The strain on his arms was absolutely worth it when he saw the wide-eyed look of surprise on Rafael’s face as he headed for the bedroom. As he glanced nervously over his shoulder, Rafael’s arms tightened around Eddie’s neck like he was holding on to a cliffside.

“Point made, Eddie, you can put me down.”

“Not if you cling like a little monkey,” Eddie said.

The pissy look Rafael gave was still firmly in place when Eddie dropped him onto his silky black sheets.

“Is this your way of actively trying to achieve lumbago?”

“I can do this all day,” Eddie bragged, between two kisses, and as if to make his point, he grabbed him again and turned him around, onto his stomach. Rafael’s breath hitched.

“Not without a broken spine.”

“Oh yeah? Remember when I carried you piggy-back like the last half mile of the marathon we did in junior year?”

“When I twisted my ankle, yes. I remember I was just surprised you came back from the goal looking for me so early. Me being fifteen minutes behind you in a marathon wasn’t unusual,” Rafael said, voice brighter with amusement.

Eddie just grinned. Obviously, Rafael had gotten a bit heavier since then, but Eddie loved the slight curve of his stomach, which he followed with his hand, and eagerly pushed against Rafael’s soft round ass, fitting their bodies together. Certainly better than it used to, with him being a skinny slip to the point that Eddie felt like feeding him from his lunch box.

“It’s like dating a dog,” Rafael muttered, as Eddie rutted against him.

“If you get jumped by a dog, what does that make you?”

“Ready to bite.”

Always got the last word in, of course. Eddie laughed. For a moment, he considered just opening Rafael’s belt and pulling his pants down just as much as he needed to, but instead, he began clumsily unbuttoning his vest from behind.

“Was the wine a little strong?”

Rafael reached up to help him, their hands knocking together.

“You wear too many layers.”

“But they all look very good.”

Finally, Eddie could slide off the vest, then the shirt, and he pulled Eddie’s pants off, too. The suit looked great, true, but he wanted something else, something more. He wanted the sight of Rafi that belonged to him only, naked and red-faced and slick with sweat as he pressed kisses against his skin.

Rafael always kept his lube in the drawer of the bedside table. Eddie took it out, spreading it over his fingers, and slid one down between Rafael’s cheeks to watch a shiver work its way up his spine.

“You want me to fuck you, _guapo_?” he asked, as he pushed the tip inside him.

“I feel like we’re halfway down that road already,” Rafael said, short of breath, and twitched with pleasure as Eddie moved in harder, deeper. With his other hand, he stroked Rafael’s throat, down his chest, and grabbed his stiff cock, squeezing him tight. The back-talk always turned him on, gave him an excuse, and he’d bet everything Rafael knew that. Every word came out of his mouth for a reason.

Eddie was going rough tonight. It was nice to have Rafael relax around his fingers, slowly opening up. Sometimes, Eddie made him come that way just ‘cause he enjoyed watching him so much. This time, he kept him on his toes, though, sped up and added more whenever he felt Rafael wasn’t quite ready yet, still a little too tense, and he knew his body well enough by now to make that work.

Rafael hissed when Eddie bit his shoulder and pressed the fourth finger inside him, rubbing his cock against Rafael’s thigh.

“Are you ever going to get started?” Rafael asked, breathless.

“Didn’t take you long to start begging,” Eddie rumbled into his ear.

There would have been an answer, but Eddie twisted his fingers and Rafael’s elbow buckled, leaving him with his face in the pillow. The image of him struggling to get back up, ass in the air, finally snapped Eddie’s patience. When he pulled out his fingers, Rafael glanced over his shoulder again, his tongue darting out over his lips. They were wet and his mouth half-opened and Eddie reached forward with his clean hand, tracing his lips with his fingertips. For a second, he was tempted to turn him around and take his mouth. Even when he was about to fuck Rafael, it felt like he could never get enough of him.

“Should I feel like it for some miraculous reason, I can’t beg if you have your hand in my mouth,” Rafael pointed out.

“Yeah, but you not talking for once is so new, Rafi,” Eddie mocked.

Rafael chuckled before he flicked his tongue between Eddie’s fingers, sucking them deep into his mouth while Eddie lined himself up, enjoying the view of Rafael stretched around the head of his cock for a moment before pushing in all the way.

His ring finger and little finger curled under Rafael’s chin, thumb digging into his cheek, the other two pressing against his tongue. Pulling Rafael’s head backward, he had his spine bent in a pretty curve, and just let go, thrusting into the willing, open body under him. God, he felt amazing.

Rafael was gasping against his fingers, and Eddie gagged him, couldn’t keep himself from brushing the soft back of his throat, which he so liked to sink into. He only pulled his fingers back when Rafael began to choke. Then, with both hands, he grabbed his hips and before Rafael could make any smart comment, went in with all the force he could muster. He was done thinking at that point, just listening to Rafael panting into the pillow, watching the muscles in his back twist as he clawed the sheet as he took him. Eddie covered his hands with his own, pressing chest to back, snapping his hips forward so hard he could hear the bed creak with every move.

“Eddie...”

Rafael tried to free one of his hands, but Eddie squeezed it hard, wordlessly growling into his ear. No, that was his job, he didn’t want him touching himself now. Eddie was gratified to find he only had to give Rafael’s cock a couple strokes until he tensed and Eddie felt the spasm in Rafael’s muscles go through his own body and he swallowed a moan, biting more marks into his shoulders. Eddie came buried deep inside him after fucking him through his orgasm and on, biting his tongue to draw it out as long as he could just to listen to Rafael’s sounds become ever more desperate when he didn’t let up.

Eddie rested against his back, still in him, their fingers still interlaced. Eventually, as his breathing had evened out, Rafael crawled out from under Eddie’s limp embrace, wandering naked into the bathroom. Eddie heard the water running through the open door, relaxing against the sheet for another moment before he cleaned himself up with a tissue. While Rafael was still busy in the bathroom, he got up and stripped the cover off the blanket, exchanging it for one from the closet. Rafael hated sleeping in the wet spot.

“Sex with you is like a workout,” Rafael remarked, as he returned, and threw a quick approving glance at the balled-up cover in the corner. His fingers were still damp and cold still as he took Eddie’s outstretched hand and let himself be pulled back onto the bed.

Eddie’s first reaction was a grin, but he stopped himself. “Too rough?”

“Just right.” Languidly, Rafael stretched out, pulling the blanket over them. “Have you got Robertson out of your system?”

When Eddie had Rafael face down on the bed, it was a rush of power, but this wasn’t the first time that afterwards, he was reminded Rafael had been holding the strings all along. Eddie smiled. Well, there was no use getting worked up about Rafael leading him around. Usually worked out in his favour.

“Yeah,” he just said.

“I figured you actually _do_ know his name.” Rafael allowed Eddie to nudge him onto his side so Eddie could spoon against his back. “Just to be perfectly clear: You realise you’re my boyfriend and no amount of digging through my early successes and stroking my ego will change that?”

“I know. You’re not that kind of guy.”

“You got that right.” Rafael paused. “Though I have to say if I _were_ just keeping you around for sex, you might actually be doing an adequate job.”

“Adequate?”

Eddie worried at his neck with his teeth, grinning. Rafael was already sleepy and not paying attention. Jumping on the chance, he began sucking his throat and, like he’d hoped, Rafael only opened his eyes and jerked his head forward when it was already too late.

“I told you not above the collar,” he complained, touching the deep red spot Eddie had left.

“It’s not. Mostly. Robertson can take a good look at this when he visits your office.”

“Didn’t you _just_ say I wasn’t that kind of guy?”

“You’re not, he is. He hit on you with me sitting right there,” Eddie said, shrugging his shoulders.

Rafael rolled his eyes at him. “That’s really cute. Would you like to pee on me, too, really mark your territory?”

“I don’t know, you into that?”

With a disdainful look, Rafael turned around to face him

“Next time you meet any colleague of mine, it should be Liv. She is much less likely to cause a crisis. Also, she said she wanted to see you,” he said.

“She’s seen me before,” Eddie said, carefully, thinking back on the interrogation room the SVU squad had had him in. “Are you sure she really likes the thought of you with me?”

“Anyone who deserves it, Liv will give them a second chance. You do,” Rafael said with a certainty that made Eddie’s chest feel a bit warmer. “Besides, I’m sure she’d like to meet up in one of those dives cops frequent. No more Chef Michelin.”

“You make a pretty good case,” Eddie decided.

“I always do,” Rafael said and smiled.


End file.
